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Every year, we support Nutrition and Hydration Week. Across the country there is action to raise awareness and improve understanding of the importance of good nutrition and hydration.

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The Freeman Hospital has also been designated as the only centre in the North East for intestinal failure. This is a condition which may need very specialised surgery.

Malnutrition screening

All patients should be screened for malnutrition when they are admitted to hospital and in most hospital clinics.

To screen patients, we use a tool called ‘MUST’. This involves patients being weighed and answering questions about unintentional weight loss. You can find out more about MUST on the BAPEN website.

If a patient is thought to be at risk of malnutrition, there are different ways to tackle this. It could include using nutritional supplements, monitoring of food and fluid charts, regular weighing, and possibly referral for specialist dietetic advice.

MUST screening is repeated every week that patients are in hospital.

Reducing time in hospital

Patients may have malnutrition for one of a number of reasons. They may have an underlying medical problem, or they could be about to have, or recovering from, an operation.

Preventing and treating malnutrition reduces how long patients need to spend in hospital, and helps to save lives.